1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the floor covering industry. More specifically, the present invention relates to the installation of carpet.
2. Description of Related Art
For comfort and aesthetic reasons, most offices, homes, and other buildings have some type of floor covering installed. One of the most popular and common types of floor coverings used in both homes and office buildings is the carpet. Carpets are not only decorative, but provide certain functional aspects as well. Most carpets are installed to provide insulation and to reduce the level of sound generated from foot traffic in a given room. There are many different styles, colors, grades, and thicknesses of carpet available on the market today with the price of the carpet being related to the abovementioned factors.
If not properly installed, any carpet, no matter how costly, may look cheap and may not provide the desired functionality for which it was installed. It is the job of a carpet installer to ensure that carpet is properly cut, positioned, and secured in place. The carpet installer's craft is to properly install carpet, but the carpet installer's goal is to make money. Carpet installers make money by installing as many square feet of carpet as possible in as little time as possible. Since most carpet installers are paid by the square foot or the square yard, the more carpet that a carpet installer can lay in a given time, the more money they will earn.
When installing carpet, the carpet installer first places a tack strip on the floor around the perimeter of the room. The tack strip is a narrow strip of wood with a series of small tacks protruding upwards. Once the carpet is installed, the tacks will press into the backing of the carpet and function to securely hold the carpet in place. The tack strip is positioned such that a gap of approximately 0.5 cm-1.5 cm is formed between the tack strip and the base of the wall or the baseboard, if a baseboard is installed. Then a carpet pad is typically sized and cut to fit just inside the perimeter of the tack strip. The carpet pad is used to provide additional cushioning for the carpet. Next, a piece of carpet is cut so as to be just slightly larger than the dimensions of the area to be carpeted.
Once the carpet has been placed over the carpet pad, the back of the carpet rests on the tack strip and the edges of the carpet are bent slightly upwards with the edges of the carpet curling upwards and resting on the wall. The carpet can then be "stretched" and "kicked" into place, using the tack strip to hold the carpet in the desired position. In order to perfect the appearance of the room and to attach the carpet to the tack strip, the carpet installer securely tucks the edge of the carpet into the gap between the tack strip and the wall. The process of tucking the carpet into the gap is one of the most time-consuming and tedious aspects of the carpet layer's job. Typically, the carpet installer uses a large, blunt, flat-edged blade with a handle to push or hammer the carpet into the gap. By moving around the edge of the carpet and pushing the blade into the carpet between the wall and the tack strip, the carpet is gradually tucked into the gap. This tucking process is difficult and the carpet installer must make several passes with the blade around the edges of the carpet in order to completely tuck the carpet into the gap.
In addition, given the goal of the tucking process and the tool being used, it can be easily understood that the typical carpet installer may inadvertently gouge or otherwise damage the baseboard or wall adjacent to the area of the carpet being tucked.
Considering the nature of the task and the stated goal of installing large quantities of carpet as quickly as possible, many tools have been developed to aid carpet installers in their trade. Unfortunately, many of these tools have inherent limitations and are not adequately suited to achieve the goal of installing more carpet in a shorter amount of time.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,852 issued to Downing discloses a carpet tucking apparatus with a long handle attached to a single wheel. A single wheel is insufficient for tucking most carpets in a single pass, especially thicker carpets which require more force to place the carpet into the gap. Further, the long handle of the carpet tucking apparatus taught by Downing is connected at an obtuse angle to the wheel. This has a tendency to cause the handle to extend out and away from the wall. This makes it difficult for the carpet installer to supply the downward force necessary to tuck the carpet into the gap. In addition, the angle makes it hard to control the tool and the wheel may jump out of the gap, thereby causing damage to the wall or baseboard during the tucking process. While the carpet installer can make multiple passes with this tool and eventually tuck the carpet, this process consumes valuable time and reduces profitability.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,059 issued to Killpack discloses a tool for tucking the edge of a carpet onto a tacking strip. This tool includes a wheel mounted on one end of a handle for tucking the carpet into the gap. The tool also includes a flat tucking blade mounted to the opposite end of the handle. Although the tool as taught by Killpack can be held at an angle, sufficient downward force cannot be applied to the carpet laying tool if held at an angle. In addition, downward force applied at an angle may cause the wheel member to slip out of the gap, thereby causing damage to the wall or baseboard. As with Downing, the carpet laying tool as taught by Killpack has a single wheel which rides over the surface of the carpet in the gap between the edge of the carpet and the wall. While somewhat effective, the single wheel can easily jump out of the gap, thereby ineffectively tucking the carpet, and causing the carpet installer to have to retuck the carpet using multiple passes.
Therefore, there exists a need for a carpet tucking apparatus that will allow the carpet installer to quickly and easily install carpets of various thicknesses without making multiple passes. Without an improved carpet tucking apparatus, carpet installers will continue to be limited by the constraints identified above and will not be able to further increase their income by tucking carpet more quickly and easily.